As I mentioned during my visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum, I have come to love stumbling upon works of art that stop me in my tracks. It happened again today. This time in Brussels, Belgium as I was walking to my hotel.
I saw these images through a window:
So bizarre! And disturbing. There was obviously some message in these, but I couldn’t imagine what it might be.
Luckily, there was a placard in the corner, since I couldn’t enter the building for a closer look. The sculptures are created by Maen Florin, a Belgian artist who uses rubber, epoxy and polyurethane in her work. She “works unflinchingly in a twilight zone between humour and tragedy, joy and sorrow, robust and fragile. The sculptures that result seem at once to spring from a fairytale, innocent and naive, and to loom up out of a nightmare.”
Indeed.
How do these sculptures make you feel?
Browsing The Atlas 
Uncomfortable. A little shaken. Curious about the artist.
Me, too.
Agreed — So bizarre!
The statues really do seem to be results of a disturbing nightmare.
Yes. I was surprised the description included the word “fairytale.” Nightmare is so much more accurate.
They are disturbing. I have problems to look at them.
Me, too
I keep going back to the last photo of the two figures with no arms. Something about their expressions make me want to know more. As uncomfortable as they make people feel, it also makes me think that they represent the more sobering aspects of people’s lives and that they’re perhaps more than just mere nightmares.
Eloquently put, Lillian. The sculpture of the chubby, blindfolded girl disturbs me the most. It conjures so many emotions and thoughts.
The sculpture of the man in a sweater makes me think that noses aren’t proportional. I remember travelling through Oslo and seeing the statue gardens there. I think the long winter nights bring out the insanity, and perhaps there is a bit of this going on in Brussels too. I think sometimes you need to exercise your demons to excise them. Just take them out and play with them a bit, and they’re easier to shove back down into a box.
Sounds like you’re an artist at heart…
I think you definitely captured it with “loom from a nightmare” haha though I like weird art. I wasn’t a fan of Dali initially because his work was so unconventional and not was I considered aesthetically pleasing, but now I love the story behind the art.
I am beginning to love weird art, too. Any art, really, that stirs up emotion. I kept walking back to see these. I think I hoped to make sense of them, but didn’t.
I think that description is entirely accurate. I love them though. Any art that makes me stop and think is good art, in my opinion.
Very interesting sculptures! I wonder what’s the story behind them. If she organizes an exhibition somewhere in North America, I’d definitely be interested in checking it out!